European Cooperation in Educational Research

Through their interdisciplinary approach, compound subjects aim to provide easier access for students to disciplinary knowledge. They are also particularly well-suited for discussing bodies of knowledge in a linked-up manner. In Germany, combined subjects are largely taught at secondary schools (except grammar schools). Compound subjects are faced with the challenge of working against decompartmentalisation of subjects - also because of the available subject-specific educational resources. The Compounds project will establish an international network of researchers, European publishers for educational media, as well as schools and teaching staff. Together, the participants gather and evaluate existing concepts, theories and methods of subject-specific teaching. Based on this, they develope transnational standards for high-quality teaching of compound subjects. For  research purposes, Compounds also develops new methodical, pedagogical, didactic and media-related theories and approaches for teaching compound subjects.
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One of the key challenges in the education sector is to foster the development of a democratic understanding of values. Religious education can make a significant contribution since for many in Europe it shapes their individual values. Specific education programmes can reinforce the potential of religion to support democracy and preventatively counter opposing developments. Current concepts have proven rather ineffective however. The aim of the project is to establish an EU-wide interdisciplinary network of experts and young professionals from academia and practice. Over a three-year period, the network identifies and analyses central educational challenges at the interface between religious and civic education. It also evaluates existing concepts and checks to what extent they already effectively address these challenges. This then forms the basis for innovative solutions. The results are presented to the public in the form of academic publications and a written expertise. The outcomes are also transferred into university teaching and teacher training and developement.


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The project focuses on the previously scarcely researched target group of Immigrant Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Additional Language Learners. The objective here is to establish a transnational and interdisciplinary exchange and research network in which the experts combine knowledge from research into multilingualism with findings from pedagogy for people with a hearing disability. The intention is to create a foundation for (1) better understanding of the learning situation for the target group, (2) developing concepts for language teaching and (3) improving the training and development of teaching staff. In this way, the network can illustrate deficits in terms of research and practice and make recommendations for teachers, parents and researchers.

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The COVID pandemic triggered a positive trend in digitalisation in many areas of education - but at the same time aggravated existing inequalities, too. Not all learners can cope successfully with the lack of face-to-face teaching. Digital Game-Based Learning (DGBL) can remove the fear of excessively high technical requirements and enable positive experiences in digital learning. Learners can be encouraged and involved on a larger scale and individual potentials can be better highlighted and utilised. The EU FairPlay joint project is designed to create an international and interdisciplinary network that pools existing knowledge of successful educational game concepts for teaching with stakeholders from educational technology, game research and educational research. This involves designing a joint agenda relating to play-based and academic learning. The findings are intended to make the German education sector more efficient in terms of digital teaching and learning and curb the rising educational disadvantage. The usability of the results for all age groups constitutes a particular added value.

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Adaptive teaching provides all students with a suitable learning environment in order to optimise knowledge acquisition and learning behaviour. The opportunities of digitalisation ensure that adaptive teaching is moving from a mere vision to a feasible way of teaching. In countries like Estonia and Finland, teachers increasingly use digital data on their students´current stage of learning to tailor their teaching to their students´ individual learning requirements.

learning data with increasing regularity to tailor their lesson to the individual learning requirements of their pupils. So that as many students as possible are able to benefit from adaptive teaching, the project gets experts from educational research and administration engaged in an intensive trans-European dialogue. The experience of the international researchers could also create new stimuli for educational research and the education landscape in Germany. To this end, amongst other things, best practice videos are being filmed in the participating partner countries which ensure the transfer of project results into German education administration and practice.
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Informal Learning Sites – such as museums, science centres and memorial sites – provide a unique interplay between authentic content and digital media.Despite their great relevance, informal learning has only been treated as a periphery phenomenon in educational research. The aim of the joint project, therefore, is to establish a sustainable, open and interdisciplinary network for strategic cooperation in the field of informal learning. In this way, researchers from empirical educational research will work closely and in a practical manner with top-class practitioners from all over Europe and the USA from the outset. Specifically, the network highlights the interplay between authentic learning opportunities and a variety of digital implementation from a range of perspectives. In addition, the researchers will identify innovative learning formats and communication concepts and other research approaches and research needs.
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